Grip-finger assembly for labeling machines



1965 s. T. CARTER ETAL 3,222,240

GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed Feb. 12, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Jam? 1 (a/'22? ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1965 s. T. CARTER E'TAL Filed Feb. 12, 1963 GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES '7 SheetsSheet 2 ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1965 str. CARTER ETAL GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 12, 1963 F l G FIG.

INVENTORS I. flanzer ATTORNEYS 136 7 1955 5.1" CARTER ETAL GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed Feb. 12, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 4.

INVENTORS 5219717607227 a/aw A1214 63 y 5% a ATTORNEYS Dec. 7, 1965 s. T. CARTER ETAL 3,222,240

GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed Feb. 12, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 I l INVENTORS 2 63 Q9 l'alile .ZCarfiar T 5+ W F G 7 Jalzaizljdlei' ATTORNEYS D 1965 s. T. CARTER ETAL 3,

GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed Feb. 12 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS Jzbzze 1. Earler Jalzafi gldler FIQZI j wk w QM 1965 s. T. CARTER ETAL 3,222,240

GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed Feb. 12, 1963 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 FIG. l9

INVENTORS fizil eyf [(172 62 filmljdkr ya-t e'w -u I C E ro ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,222,240 GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY FOR LABELING MACHINES Sidney T. Carter, Shrewsbury, and Julian L. Fedler, Leominster, Mass., assignors to Geo. J. Meyer Manufacturing C0., Cudahy, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Feb. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 257,898 20 Claims. (Cl. 156--482) This invention pertains to labeling machines and more especially to an improved grip-finger assembly for use in such a machine.

For pressing the usual body or the usual shoulder label into adhering contact with a bottle there is most commonly employed a pad of stifily resilient rubber which, while deformable slightly under pressure, is not capable of conforming closely to a surface comprising the different types of curvature which occur at or above the shoulder of a bottle, although a properly designed suctiontype grip-finger, for example, such as disclosed in the patent to Carter, No. 2,652,941, dated September 22, 1953, may be satisfactory in applying a vertically narrow label to a surface of double curvature. Certain types of bottle, in particular champagne bottles, have neck portions which, while convex at any horizontal section, are concave in radial planes just above the shoulder. The trade demands that a label whose central part, at least (that is, the part which is exposed to view at the front of the bottle), be of substantial vertical width and that this central portion of the label be applied to that part of the bottle having the concave peripheral area. Because labels used on such bottles are customarily of stiff paper and because of this concavity at the very point at which the central part of the label is to be applied, no prior pressure-type grip-finger, so far as is known, is competent to apply a label to such a surface and, accordingly, hand-application of shoulder labels to such bottles has been necessary.

The present invention has for an object the provision of an improved grip-finger assembly capable of applying a wide label to a bottle of the specific type just referred to. A further object is to provide a grip-finger assembly comprising means operative to tension a label over a concave area of the bottle surface and, while it is so tensioned, to apply pressure to its opposite ends so as to adhere them to the bottle. A further object is to provide a grip-finger assembly comprising two spaced, relatively movable pads having suction openings therein and which are operative to engage and adhere (by suction) to the opposite lateral portions, respectively, of an elongate label and, while so holding the label, to move apart thereby to tension the label peripherally of the bottle while concomitantly applying aifixing pressure to said lateral portions. A further object is to provide means operative, after the opposite lateral portions of a label have been stuck to the bottle, to terminate the suction at the pads and substitute air pressure thereby to prevent pulling the label away from the bottle as the pads are retracted. A further object is to provide a labelapplying grip-finger which comprises a U-shaped padsupporting frame comprising spaced, resilient, substantially parallel arms, with a pressure-applying pad mounted upon the free end of each arm, the pads being so shaped that, when applying pressure for afiixing a label to a bottle,

they automatically move away from each other so as to tension the label. A further object is to provide a grip-finger assembly comprising means operative to grip the opposite lateral portions of a label, at opposite sides of its central part, by suction and, while applying pressure for afiixing the label to the periphery of an article of circular cross-section, to apply tension to the label transversely of its width.

readiness to start its motion toward the conveyor and to take shoulder and body labels from the picker which is shown as located at the transfer station;

FIG. 2 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1, but showing the grip-finger assembly as having taken a body label and a shoulder label from the picker (the latter being omitted from this view) and the assembly being in the position at which the upper part of the body label has just made contact With the bottle, the shoulder label still being spaced from the bottle a substantially distance;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing only the suction-type transfer pad for the shoulder label and associated parts-with a label extending in a substantially straight line transversely of the shoulder label transfer pad, with the center portion, only, of the label contacting the pad-the label, thus shown, being of relatively stiff material such as is employed by some bottlers for the shoulder labels of champagne bottles;

FIG. 4 is a view generally similar to FIG. 2, but with some parts omitted, and in this instance showing a gripfinger assembly at each side of the conveyor path, the grip-finger assembly at the right-hand side of the conveyor path, as illustrated, being in the position where it has applied the body label and the shoulder label to the bottle, the upper and lower margins, only, of the wide center portion of the label contacting the bottle, while the narrower end portions of the shoulder label still extend outwardly, as in FIG. 3, away from the bottle;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view generally similar to FIG. 3 and omitting many parts, showing a shoulder label of the shape commonly used on champagne bottles in the position in which the upper and lower margins of its wide midportion are held by the transfer pad in contact with the bottle, as in FIG. 4, with its midportion bridging the peripheral concavity of the bottle shoulder;

FIG. 6 is a more-or-less diagrammatic elevation, generally similar to FIG. 4, but showing a label like that of FIG. 5 as having been en-gagedby the auxiliary pressure pads of the present invention, so that those parts of its relatively narrow arms which adjoin its wide midportion havebeen brought into contact with the bottle, but with their end portions still free from the bottle;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the shoulder label transfer pad and the auxiliary pressure pads and label as positioned in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary diagrammatic section substantially in the vertical plane of the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the frame which carries the auxiliary pressure pads which are disposed at opposite sides of the shoulder label transfer pad and which con stitutes a part of the grip-finger assembly of the present invention-the frame being shown as removed from its supporting lever arm;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary section on the line 1010 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a section to larger scale, substantially on the line 1111 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view of the lower portion, only, of the grip-finger assembly shown in FIG. 1, as it appears when viewed from the right-hand side of the latter figure;

FIG. 13 is an elevation showing the label-contacting face of a picker specially designed to pick a label of approximately the shape of that shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a side elevation showing the shoulder label pad carrier of the grip-finger assembly removed from its supporting lever arm;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the pad carrier of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a front view, to smaller scale, of the pad carrier, showing the label-contacting face of the shoulder label transfer pad;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary radial section, to larger scale, showing the character of the bottle which is to be labeled and showing an attached label in vertical section;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary front elevation of a conventional champagne bottle with a characteristic label aflixed to the bottle;

FIG. 18a is a rear elevation of the bottle of FIG. 18, showing the relatively narrow ends of the label as having been wiped into adhering contact with the bottle;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary diagrammatic elevation, partly in section, illustrative of the general characteristic of a labeling machine of the type in which the grip-finger assembly of the present invention may be employed;

FIG. 20 is a view generally similar to FIG. 9, but illustrative of the action of the pressure pads of the present invention in tensioning a label circumferentially about the peripheral surface of a bottle; and

FIG. 21 is a view showing the general style of shoulder label customarily used on champagne bottles as it appears before being applied to the bottle.

Referring to FIG. 19 of the drawings, the character B indicates the base portion of the frame of a labeling machine of a kind such as is more fully disclosed in the patent to Carter, No. 2,980,278, dated April 18, 1961. This frame supports various parts, including bearings for the main shaft S, upon which are mounted cams for actuating those elements of the machine which go through a predetermined cycle, once for each rotation of the shaft S, in functioning to apply a label. The machine (only one side of which is shown in FIG. 19) is designed to apply labels simultaneously, if desired, to the front and rear sides of an article such as the bottle A, while the bottle is supported by the conveyor C, the latter being driven so as to move the bottle along a predetermined path through the various zones in which successive operations take place. At opposite sides of the machine, gum boxes G are arranged (only one appearing in FIG. 19), and in each gum box there is a gum-elevating roll E which supplies gum to a corresponding transfer roll E which is carried by a rocking lever L so as to transfer gum from the elevating roll E to the surface of a picker P of the separable-blade type.

The picker P, carried by a rock-shaft S receives a coating of adhesive gum from the transfer roll E while its blades are closed and is then swung so as to contact its gummed surface with the exposed labels in the label compartments of a magazine (not here shown). The picker blades then separate and move to the transfer station, as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 19, where the relatively movable blades remain separated while the transfer pad or pads pass between them to take the label. With the picker blades in this separated condition and with the opposite end portions, only, of the label adhered to the respective blades at the transfer station, the label-contacting faces of the blades are disposed in a plane which inclines downwardly and toward the vertical plane through the axis of the bottle A as the latter stands in position to receive the labels. As shown in FIG. 19, the transfer station, represented by the full-line position of the picker P, is spaced a substantial distance from the bottle which is to receive the label. While the picker P dwells in the position shown in FIG. 19, the grip-finger assembly is moved in a counterclockwise direction (FIG. 19), so as to contact its label-transfer pads with the labels which are carried by the pickertaking the gummed labels with it and eventually pressing the labels into contact with those portions of the bottle surface which are to receive them, while the picker returns for the reception of a fresh coating of gum.

A latch L (FIGS. 1, 2, 11 and 12), similar to that more fully described in the patent to Carter, No. 2,946,472, dated July 26, 1960, is operative, when the picker is at the transfer station, as shown in FIG. 1, to keep the labelcontacting faces of the pads P and P in the same plane, these being the body-label pads and main or central shoulder-label pads, respectively.

If the machine be designed to apply labels to the front and rear sides of the same bottle, then a magazine and grip-finger assembly will be arranged at opposite sides of the conveyor path. Even though labels are not to be applied to both sides of the bottle and a label magazine is arranged at one side, only, of the conveyor path, gripfinger assemblies are desirably provided at both sides of the conveyor path as here shown (FIG. 4), since a gripfinger assembly which does not apply a label is useful as an abutment to prevent tipping of the bottle as the label is applied.

Each grip-finger assembly (F and F FIG. 4), is secured at its lower end to a corresponding rock-arm M (FIG. 4), fixed to a shaft K, these parallel shafts being arranged to rock in suitable bearings. Any suitable means (not here shown) receiving its motion from the main shaft S (FIG. 19) may be employed for imparting movement to the rock-shaft K.

As here illustrated (FIG. 4), each grip-finger assembly F and F respectively, is provided with a label-applying pad P designed to apply a label to the body portion of the bottle, each of these pads being provided with one or more suction orifices or ports X (FIG. 1) and suitable means (not here shown), for example an air pump and automatically actuating valves, which establishes suction at these ports X to enable the pads to take labels from the pickers-the suction at these ports being broken at the proper time in the cycle to permit the pad to leave the label in adhering contact with the bottle while the gripfinger assemblies return to the transfer station.

Each of the grip-finger assemblies, as here shown (FIGS. 1, 11 and 12), comprises a base portion 20 which may, for example, be a metal casting rigidly fixed to its rock-arm M. Considering, for purposes of description, that the side of the grip-finger assembly F which is nearest to the conveyor C is its front side, then referring to FIG. 11, the base 20 has forwardly directed, intgeral brackets 25 and 26 which are spaced apart at their forward ends and which have aligned bores for the reception of fixed pivot pins 27 and 28, respectively (FIG. 11), which define a fulcrum axis about which may rock the main lever 29 (FIG. 2) to which is fixed the carrier Z (FIG. 1) for the body label pad P Parts 30 (FIG. 1), fixed to the lower portion of the lever 29, are spaced to receive between them the bracket members 25 and 26. The parts 30 (FIG. 1) are fixed to the lever 29 by studs 30a or by welding and have adjustably secured thereto the forwardly projecting bearing devices 31 (FIG. 11), having bearing bores for rotatably receiving the aforesaid pins 27 and 28 respectively, the lever 29 thus being supported by the base to rock about the axis defined by the pins 27 and 28.

The upper end (FIG. 1) of the lever 29 has transversely spaced holes for the reception of the screw-threaded end portions of stem members 36 integral with bearing brackets 36a (FIGS. 1 and 2), which receive a shaft 37 on which are mounted to rock the parallel, downwardly directed arms 39a (FIGS. 4 and 14), forming parts of a housing Z (FIG. 14) for the main or central, suction-type shoulder label transfer pad P Links 40, of adjustable length, are pivotally connected at their forward ends to the housing Z and at their rear ends to pins projecting from the upper end of a lever 23.

ems-24s The base 20 (FIG. 12) is provided with laterally projecting arms 41 and 42, upon which rest the lower ends of coiled compression springs 43 and 44, respectively, the upper ends of which bear against brackets 45 and 46 (FIG. 12) which project rearwardly from the lower part of the lever 29-these springs embracing bolts 47 and 48 having heads at their lower ends which constitute stops to limit the forward swing of the lever 29 by the springs 43 and 44. In the normal position of adjustment, the label-contacting faces of the transfer pads P and P will lie in the same plane when the grip-finger assembly is at the transfer point, that is to say, approximately in the position of FIG. 1, but, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the arrangement is such that, as the grip-finger assembly approaches the bottle, the pad carrier Z is gradually rocked so that, at the instant of contact of the shoulder label with the bottle shoulder, as shown in FIG. 4, the face of the pad P is inclined at substantially the same angle as the surface of the bottle shoulder to which the label is to be applied. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the arms 41 and 42 are extended laterally, sufficiently to provide supports for coiled springs 43a and 44a, whose upper ends bear against brackets 45:: and 46a projecting from the lower part of the lever 23. This lever is provided with bearing devices 23a and 23b (FIG. 11)-(like the devices 31 and 31a above described), which receive the extended end portions of the pins 27 and 28, thus providing a rocking support for the lever 23, while the springs 43a and 44a tend to swing the lever 23 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2, so that the upper end of this lever tends to approach a bottle mounted on the conveyor. The lever 23 lies to the rear of lever 29 (FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6) and to its upper end is pivotally connected the link 40 as above described.

A third rockable lever arm 6!) (FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6) is attached at its lower end by means, including one or more screws 60a (FIG. 2), to the base 20 so that it rocks with the latter.

As shown in FIG. 18a, the bottle A (a typical champagne bottle) has a body portion B which is substantially cylindrical, a narrow neck portion N which very gradually increases in diameter downwardly but which develops into a surface which, in radial section (FIG. 17) has a cavity or hollow at H as it merges with the body at the shoulder S. The label L (FIG. 21), which is customarily used on a champagne bottle, is designed to be applied to the bottle just at the peripheral concavity H above referred to, and comprises a central portion 1 which is of substantial width vertically. For example, the vertical width of the central part of the label may be 1 /4 inches. From this central portion extends lateral arms J and I which taper in width from their junctions with the central part-the arm I tapering continually to an end of approximately /8 of an inch in width, while, at its narrow end, the arm I terminates in a substantially circular tab T constituting a finish (FIG. 18a) for the joint where the ends of the two arms overlap as applied to the bottle.

Because of the vertical width of the central part of the label and because the label employed is usually of quite stiff material, it is substantially impossible, without causing wrinkles or tearing to the label, to cause this central part of the label to adhere in intimate contact with the concave surface H of the bottle.even if it were desirable to have the outer face of the label to form such a concave surface. Thus, in applying the label, it is not attempted to force the central part of the label into contact with the surface H of the bottle, but only the upper and lower margins M and M (FIG. 17) of the central part of the label are caused actually to contact the bottle surface, While the central part of the label bridges the hollow or concavity H as shown in FIG. 17. The lateral portions or arms of the label are wrapped about the bottle, sloping downwardly, as shown in FIG. 18a, at the rear of the bottle, with the circular tip portion T of the arm J overlapping the end of the arm J As shown in FIG. 21, the

6 upper edge E of the label is curved so that, as it is wrapped about the bottle, the upper edge gradually slopes downwardly and rearwardly as the bottle is viewed from its front, giving the appearance of a snugly-fitting and ornamental collar.

For applying such a label to such a bottle there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a frame D (FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 and 20) for supporting auxiliary pressure pads Px and Py, respectively, for cooperation with the main or central shoulder label transfer pad P in so affixing the label that it bridges the peripheral concavity or hollow H (FIG. 17 just above the bottle shoulder. This frame D (FIG. 5), as here illustrated, consists of a single length of stiffly resilient sheet metal, for example stainless steel, bent substantially to U-form, so as to have the base portion 61 and the two spaced legs 62 and 63 which, in normal position, as here illustrated in FIG. 9 for example, are substantially parallel. The base portion 61 has holes which receive fastener elements 64 (FIG. 4), for example bolts, by means of which this base portion is firmly secured to the upper part of the lever arm 60-the legs 62 and 63 of the frame D being spaced apart a sufficient distance (FIG. 3) to permit the shoulder label transfer pad carrier Z to be received, with clearance, between them. As shown in FIG. 8, the label-contacting faces F and F of the pads Px and Py, respectively, slope downwardly at an angle corresponding generally to the downward slope of that part of the bottle to which the label is to be applied. The free end portion of each pad is rounded (FIG. 9) or beveled (FIG. 10) so as to have a cam action when advanced while in contact with the curved bottle surface. Each pad Px and Py has a suction port N (FIG. 10) in its label-contacting face which communicates, by means of flexible tubes 67 and 68, respectively, with an air pump or other device (not here shown), such as is common in the labeling machine art, which provides suction at the pads P and P but with provision whereby, at proper times, as is also common in the labeling machine art, the suction at the pads Px and Py is terminated and a jet of compressed air is delivered through the ports in these pads after the label has adhered to the bottle.

It may be understood that the grip-finger assembly of the present invention is intended to be used in a labeling machine of the kind wherein the article to be labeled, after receiving a label from the grip-finger assembly, is moved relatively to Wiping means (not here shown) which applies force for adhering the label firmly and smoothly to the article, and, if the article be cylindrical, for example a bottle, and if the label is to extend more than about the article, such wiping means will be of a kind (common in this art), such, for instance, as a rotating brush or brushes, capable of wiping the opposite end portions of the label into embracing contact with the article.

Inthe operation of this device, the grip-finger assembly moves from the transfer station (FIG. 1) to the labelapplying position (FIG. 6) with a body label adherent to the pad P and the midportion of a shoulder label adherent to the suction-type shoulder label transfer pad P The pad P first contacts the upper part of the body label with the bottle and then, as the latch L is released and as the pad P contacts the entire area of the body pad with the bottle, the lever arm 23 continues to move relatively to the now stationary lever 29 and so tips the pad carrier Z as to bring the wide center portion J of the shoulder label into a position to bridge the hollow peripheral concavity H in the surface of the bottle just above the shoulder as shown in FIG. 17. Only the upper and lower margins M and M of the central part of the label actually contact the bottle surface. Usually no gum will be applied to these upper and lower margins at the center part of the labelthe powerful wrapping action obtained by the apparatus of the present invention insuring against separation of thesefree margins from the bottle after the label has been applied, even though these margins are not gum-coated. Both levers 29 and 23 are now stationary while the rock-arm 60 (FIG. 6) swings to ward the bottle A so that the pads Px and Py, carried by the legs of the frame D, contact the label at opposite sides of its central part. Suction is, at once, established at the ports in the pads Px and Py and causes the label to cling to these pads and, as the frame D further advances, the beveled faces of the pads Px and Py, in following the curved surface of the bottle (FIG. 2), are compelled to move away from each other (the legs of the frame D flexing), and thus the label is stretched tautly about the bottle, its margins M and M hugging the surface of the bottle above and below the hollow or peripheral concavity, while, at the same time, the inner portions of the gum-coated legs of the label are firmly pressed into adhering contact with the surface of the bottle. Just before the grip-finger assembly starts to retreat from the bottle, the suction is cut off at the pads Px and Py and a jet of compressed air is delivered from the ports in these pads, thus preventing the label from being pulled away from the bottle as the grip-finger assembly retreats. In this way, the wide, center part of the label is stretched taut so as to bridge the hollow or peripheral concavity H and its leg portions are firmly adhered to the bottle. The transfer pad P functions, like a conventional pressure pad, to hold the upper and lower margins M and M of the center part of the label in close contact with the bottle above and below the peripheral concavity H.

With this arrangement it is thus possible to apply a label to a bottle having a hollow or concavity, such as is found in champagne bottles, where the neck joins the body, which cannot be accomplished satisfactorily by the use of the ordinary simple pressure pad.

Since a single, wrap-around type of label is applied, it is sufiicient to provide a grip-finger, comprising the improvement herein described, at one side, only, of the conveyor path, and for this reason the grip-finger assembly, at the opposite side of the conveyor path, may be of conventional form, comprising merely the customary body label pad and shoulder label pad with means for actuating them such as generally described hereinabove.

The result of the operation of the parts as above described is to place the label approximately in the position indicated diagrammatically in FIGS. 6, 7 and 17- that is to say, with the center part Z of the label bridging the peripheral concavity or hollow H at or just above the bottle shoulder and with the long, relatively narrow end portions or arms I and J of the label extending in more-or-less parallel relation away from the grip-finger assembly which applies the label. As the bottle is advanced by the conveyor, beyond the point at which the label is first alfixed by the grip-finger device, appropriate wiper devices (not shown), customary in the art, will first wrap the end portion 1 of the label into contact with the bottle and thereafter the other arm I will be similarly wrapped around the bottle so that the tip end T of the arm I of the label will conceal the joint. Since these arms I and J of the label are relatively narrow and slope downwardly when applied to the bottle, and since there is no serious difiiculty in or objection to pressing these parts inwardly into actual contact with the concave bottle surface, these parts of the label being largely at the rear of the bottle, customary wiping devices suffice to obtain the desired result.

It will, of course, be understood that instead of employing a frame D of resilient material, equivalent means for supporting the auxiliary pressure-applying pads and for resiliently opposing the separation of pads may be substitutedall within the scope of the present invention.

While the apparatus of the present invention is particularly intended for so applying a label that a portion, at least, of the label bridges a cavity or hollow extending peripherally of the bottle, it is evident that it would be equally useful for similarly applying a label so as to bridge a dimple or a vertically extending concavity in the bottle surface.

Although the device herein disclosed is primarily intended for stretching a label across a depression in the surface of a bottle, it is contemplated that apparatus embodying the same principle may be found useful in wrapping a label tautly into adhering engagement about a bottle or other article not provided with such a depression.

One desirable embodiment of the invention has herein been shown and described by way of example, but it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a labeling machine of the kind which comprises means for supporting an article in position to receive a gum-coated label and means for removing a label from a magazine and for applying gum to one face of the label, in combination, means operative to apply the gummed face of the label to the article to be labeled while concomitantly subjecting the label to forces tending to stretch the label transversely.

2. In a labeling machine of the kind which comprises means for supporting an article in position to receive a gum-coated label, means for removing a label from a magazine and for applying gum to a predetermined portion of one face of the label, and transfer means operative to apply the gummed area of the label to the article to be labeled, characterized in that said transfer means comprises relatively movable, spaced label-gripping elements, and means for so relatively moving said gripping elements, while gripping the label, as to tend to move the gripped portions of the label away from each other.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the relatively movable gripping elements are operative, by suction, to adhere to the ungummed face of the label at spaced points respectively, and means whereby said gripping elements are moved in opposite directions as the label contacts the article thereby to stretch that portion of the label which intervenes between the gripping elements.

4. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the transfer means comprises a pad and means operative so to move said pad as to press the central part of the label into contact with the article to be labeled, and a pair of suction cups located, respectively, at opposite sides of said pad and which are operative, by suction, to grip the uncoated face of the label at spaced points, means for moving said cups in the same direction as the pad thereby to contact spaced portions of the label with the article to be labeled, and means whereby the suction cups thereafter are caused to move in opposite directions so as to tension that portion of the label which intervenes between them.

5. The combination according to claim 4, wherein the article to be labeled is circular and has a peripheral concavity at an area to be covered by the label, and means so supporting the suction cups that, as the portion of the label which intervenes between said cups contacts the surface of the article, the cups move apart, in following the curved surface of the article, thereby so tensioning the label as to stretch it tautly over said concavity.

6. A grip-finger assembly for use in bringing a label, having a vertically wide central portion, into contact with a bottle, said assembly comprising a suction pad of the pressure type operative to receive a label from a supply and to bring said wide central portion of the label into contact with the bottle while leaving the end portions of the label unattached, and a pair of relatively movable pressure pads operative, by contact with those portions, respectively, of the label which are adjacent to but laterally beyond the wide central portion of the label, to press said lateral portions of the label into intimate contact with the bottle.

7. In combination, in a machine for applying a label to a circularly curved surface, having therein a peripheral concavity, in such manner that the label, when applied, will bridge said concavity and contact areas of the surface beyond the limits of the concavity, a pair of independent suction pads, means so supporting said pads that they are normally spaced a predetermined distance apart and with capability of moving further apart, means for establishing suction at both pads thereby to adhere spaced, gummed portions of a label thereto, means for so moving the pads as to press said spaced portions of the label into adhering contact with said surface and for concomitantly moving the pads apart thereby to cause the label to bridge said concavity, and means operative thereafter to substitute pressure for suction at the pads thereby to leave the labels permanently adhering to the article.

8. A grip-finger assembly for afiixing a label, having gum-coated areas, to an article, said assembly comprising a pair of suction pads, each having a suction port, means so supporting said pads that they are normally spaced apart, said supporting means being so constructed and arranged that the pads may move away from each other while resiliently resisting such motion and while gripping a label by suction, means for creating suction at said ports thereby to hold the label with its uncoated face in contact with the pads, and means operative to move the pads concomitantly, while so holding a label, toward an article to be labeled thereby first to contact the adhesively-coated areas of the label with the article and then to cause the pads to move away from each other thereby to tension the label across the space between the pads.

9. In a grip-finger assembly of the kind wherein a suction-type label-transfer pad, of a width substantially less than that of the label to be applied, is mounted on a movable part by means of which said transfer pad is carried from a transfer station where it receives a label to a posi tion such as to contact the central part, only, of the label with the article to be labeled, in combination, a pair of pressure pads spaced apart to receive the transfer pad between them, movable supporting means for said pressure pads operative, after the transfer pad has contacted the central part of the label with the article to be labeled, to move said pressure pads relatively to the transfer pad so as to contact the respective pressure pads with those parts of the label which are located laterally beyond the edges of the transfer pads, and to press those portions of the label, which they so contact, into engagement with the article.

10. The combination according to claim 9, wherein the supporting means for the pressure pads is resiliently yieldable so that the pressure pads may move away from each other while in contact with the label, thereby to tension that portion of the label which intervenes between them.

11. The combination according to claim 9, wherein the supporting means for the pressure pads comprises a pair of elongate resilient elements each fixed at one end to a rock-arm and having the pressure pads fixed to their free ends, the pressure pads being so shaped that, as the rockarm is moved toward the article to be labeled, said resilient elements are flexed and the pads move in opposite directi-ons away from each other.

12. The combination according to claim 9, wherein the elongate resilient elements which support the pressure pads constitute the normally parallel legs of a U-shaped frame whose base portion is attached to the rock-arm whereby the legs are moved toward and from the article to be labeled, and the pressure pads have suction orifices in their label-contacting faces.

13. In a labeling machine of the kind which comprises means for supporting a bottle in position to receive a gum-coated label, a magazine for labels, a gum-coated picker for removing a label from the magazine and presenting it at a transfer station, and a grip-finger assembly comprising a lever carrying a suction-type transfer pad operative to receive a label at the transfer station and to apply its gummed face to the bottle, and means for rocking said lever about an axis disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the bottom of the bottle, the suction pad being of a size such as to contact the midportion, only, of the label while leaving marginal portions thereof exposed, in combination, a second lever arm arranged to rock about the same axis as that about which the first-named lever rocks, a U-shaped frame whose base is secured to said second lever arm and whose legs are resilient and spaced apart a distance exceeding the width of the suction transfer pad, a pressure pad secured to the free end of each of the legs of said frame, and means for rocking said second lever arm, after the suction transfer pad has contacted the label with the bottle, thereby to engage the pressure pads with those portions of the label which project outwardly from the suction transfer pad thereby to press such portions of the label into contact with the bottle.

14. The combination according to claim 13, wherein the pressure pads carried by the resilient legs of the frame are so shaped that, when pressing the label against the curved surface of the bottle, said pads move away from each other.

15. The combination according to claim 14, wherein those surfaces of the pressure pads which contact the label are so beveled that, in pressing the label against the curved surface of the bottle, they are forced apart.

16. The combination according to claim 13, wherein the pressure pads carried by the U-shaped frame are provided with suction orifices, and means whereby suction may be established at said suction orifices subsequent to the establishment of suction at the suction transfer pad.

17. The combination according to claim 13, wherein the apparatus comprises means for terminating suction at the pressure pads after they have pressed the label into contact with the bottle and for thereafter delivering a jet of compressed air through said orifices.

18. In apparatus for applying a label to a bottle of the kind which has a peripheral concavity in the region of the shoulder, means for disposing a label, comprising gumcoated, relatively narrow arms and an ungummed, relatively wide central part, so that it bridges said concavity, and means for so applying force to the wide central part of the label as to tension that part of the label which overlies the concavity while pressing its narrow leg portions into adhering contact with the surface of the bottle.

19. Apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the means for tensioning the label comprises suction cups spaced apart a distance exceeding the width of the central part of the label, means for bringing the cups into gripping engagement with those portions of the label which adjoin its central part, and means whereby said cups, while gripping the label, are caused to move apart.

20. The combination according to claim 19, comprising means whereby the suction cups, after gripping the label, are caused to move peripherally of the bottle while pressing those portions of the label, with which they have gripping engagement, into adhering contact with the bottle, and concomitantly so stretching the label that its central part bridges the concavity.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,992,760 2/ 1935 Neumair 156-482 2,006,116 6/ 1935 Schmiedel 156-494 2,652,941 9/1953 Carter 156-493 2,980,278 4/1961 Carter 156-476 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,222,240 December 7, 1965 Sidney T. Carter et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

"9" read l1 Signed and sealed this 27th day of September 1966.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents 

9. IN A GRIP-FINGER ASSEMBLY OF THE KIND WHEREIN A SUCTION-TYPE LABEL-TRANSFER PAD, OF A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THAT OF THE LABEL TO BE APPLIED, IS MOUNTED ON A MOVABLE PART BY MEANS OF WHICH SAID TRANSFER PAD IS CARRIED FROM A TRANSFER STATION WHERE IT RECEIVES A LABEL TO A POSITION SUCH AS TO CONTACT THE CENTRAL PART, ONLY, OF THE LABEL WITH THE ARTICLE TO BE LABELED, IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF PRESSURE PADS SPACED APART TO RECEIVE THE TRANSFER PAD BETWEEN THEM, MOVABLE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR SAID PRESSURE PADS OPERATIVE, AFTER THE TRANSFER PAD HAS CONTACTED THE CENTRAL PART OF THE LABEL WITH THE ARTICLE TO BE LABELED, TO MOVE SAID PRESSURE PADS RELATIVELY TO THE TRANSFER PAD SO AS TO CONTACT THE RESPECTIVE PRESSURE PADS WITH THOSE PARTS OF THE LABEL WHICH ARE LOCATED LATERALLY BEYOND THE EDGES OF THE TRANSFER PADS, AND TO PRESS THOSE PORTIONS OF THE LABEL, WHICH THEY SO CONTACT, INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ARTICLE. 